Only The Fence Keeps Us Apart
by naruto004
Summary: Prepare for a long read. Naruto and Sakura are neighbours. Watch as their relatonship builds in strange ways. join them in funny, special, and intiment moments. Narusaku.
1. new girl

Hello! ive only seen 1 narusaku neighbours story so i thought i would make one. i guess this is an AU

thus another submission from naruto004!!!!!

(p.s. naruto has never met sakura before in fact there's alot of stuff thats not right- such as the case of naruto's family)

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**Saturday, September 24**

_BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BE-CHRASH CRACKLE_

Naruto Uzumaki sideswiped his alarm. It unplugged and landed in the middle of the room. Fortunately it didn't break and he wouldn't have to buy a new one.

"Uggh..." Naruto moaned. He puled his face skin down with his palm, exposeing the red under his eyes. "What time is it?" It must have been early because he looked at where his alarm clock used to be to find out. After remembering what he had done he looked at his watch.

'

7:00 AM. "Curse you 'forgeting to turn alarm off because it's Saturday syndrome', " he mumbled. Unfortunately for Naruto, once he was awake he

couldn't get back to sleep. So he got out of his bed and headed to the door. He walked through the hallway, down the stairs and into the kitchen. He lived in a normal house. Two bedrooms, a kitchen, one bathroom, a living room, and a dining room. All in a plane white house with brown trim in a suburban neighbourhood. There were 12 other houses just like his on his street.

Naruto reached into a cuboard and pulled out a box of corn flakes. In another he pulled out a bowl and spoon, and finally the milk from the fridge. Put it all together and, tada! A breakfest was born. He sat on the sofa, turned on tv and began to eat. He watched a sitcom about a guy who had two wives. He laughed, he thought that would be pretty awesome. He was only 16 so he couldn't start to think about getting a wife, let alone two!

Naruto finished his crunchy breakfest and looked at the time on the microwave. 8:32.

"Morning Sunshine," Sanu said in a groggy voice. Naruto watched his brother enter the kitchen in his pajamas. They were almost identical twins except Sanu had slightly darker yellow hair do to their mother and of course no whiskers.

"Shut up you idiot," Naruto said in a not totally angry tone.

"What's wrong with you, woke up on the wrong side of the bed?" Sanu asked.

"No, just way to early," he reponded.

"Did 'forgeting to turn alarm off because it's Saturday syndrome' get you again?" He wondered, as his toast popped.

"Yep," he said and prounonced the 'p' with a pop sound.

"Hey at least you usually get to sleep in till ten. Unlike some people," he stared at Naruto. "I have a job. I'm the one who brings home the bacon. Youuu, were to lazy for anyone who interviewed you!"

"You and I both know it's because of the Kyuubi inside me, your damn lucky dad decided to put it in me and not you!....besides your bacon is gross," By now Naruto had got angry.

"Suuuuure," Sanu said as he walked out of the kitchen.

"Hey get to your job as burger flipper!" Naruto told him.

"I'm not a burger flipper I'm the manager!" he shouted as he ran upstairs, toast in hand.

"Suuuuure," Naruto mimicked.

oOo

Sanu had given Naruto a list of chores to do. Normally Naruto wouldn't let his brother tell him what to do but a long time ago they agreed that they would share the work around the house equally if they wanted to keep things the way they were. They had no parents to do the work with them or take care of the bills so they had to do all the cleaning and make the money. Well, they're uncle sent $400 a month which wasn't much when shareing between two growing boys. But Sanu also brought in another $300 every two weeks which totaled to $1000 a month. They balanced it to $500 for bills, $300 for food, $30 to put into savings, $70 for clothes or linen, and $100 for recreation. Sometimes Naruto would do some odd jobs that he earn money and spend it on things like nice clothes, music, or electronics. Plus, their uncle sometimes sent a little extra which they could get stereos or a bigger tv with.

Naruto started by cleaning the bathroom which was the grossest job because there was always urine on the walls because the 'stream' always bounced 'some' off the walls of the toilet (A/N you guys know what i mean). Then their was the little hairs in the sink and dried shaving creme stuck to the counter. Luckily the shower was usually pretty easy to clean.

His next job was to wash the dishes/clean the kitchen. Fortunately for Naruto their was only a couple bowls 2 pots and a frying pan. he finished in about 10 min, then wiped the counter, and put away the cereal and bread.

Last on his list was to trim the hedges. He actually kinda liked this chore because he got to use a big pair of scissors and cut up a bunch of stuff. He started in the back and gradually moved to the front. His backyard was pretty plain. Green grass, a pine tree and a big maple, a small barbeque, and his pride and joy- which he called Mr. Heaty- his hot tub, big enough to fit 4. It costed three years of savings and 50 mowed lawns but they bought it and they loved it.

Naruto moved to the front yard. Unlike his back yard his front yard had nothing. Just green grass and the straight path to his front door. As he neared the end of the hedge he looked into his neighbours yard. It looked exactly like his except....there was a sold sign! In their front yard!

"Great........I have to deal with new neighbours," he didn't so much hate going to have new neighbours it was more acting like he cared about them that he didn't like.

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After Naruto finished he went inside and logged onto the computer. He played a movie that he hadn't seen before, something about a guy who had to adopt 60 children before his birthday or he would die......it was so boring, Naruto fell asleep watching it.

When he woke up it was nearly dusk so he decided to have a soak in his hot tub. In minutes he was in his trunks and headed out the patio door. He slowly slipped in as the soothing water in gulfed his body he let out an "Oooh" in delight. Once in Naruto shut his eyes and just sat perfectly still.

................BOOM!

"What, what I'm awake!" Naruto looked around and found nothing. The sound came from over the fence so he peered his head over.

There were three guys talking.

"Alright so we'll be back tommorow to unload the rest of the stuff until then you'll just have to make do," A strong man said as he took a puff of his cigarette.

"Ok thank you I'm sure we can," A skinny man replied.

The two strong men climbed into the moving truck and drove away and the other man walked back into his house.

"Guess he's my new neighbour." Naruto whispered.

Since he was interupted from his daze he didn't bother to get back into the tub, instead he just went inside and put on a black t-shirt that went with his orange swim trunks. Five minutes later there was a knock at the door. Then another, then another. Naruto ran downstairs.

"Alright, alright keep your pants on..." Naruto cackled.

He opened the door and there before him stood a gorgeous, 5'6" girl. She had long pink hair and smelled like vanilla. She wore a red t-shirt and dark, jean short-shorts. Naruto looked into her sparkling emerald eyes and his jaw dropped a little. He immediately regreted what he said earlier.

"H-h-h-hi...." he could barely say.

"Hey," she waved. "Can I borrow a dozen eggs?"

Naruto, with out a word just slipped into the kitchen and brought back a carton of eggs, he then handed them to the girl.

"What do you need all these eggs for anyways?" Naruto finally got the courage to ask.

"Follow me," the girl told him.

Naruto followed close behind eagrly wanting to know why she needed all those eggs. The girl stopped in the middle of the road and Naruto mimmiked her. she opened the carton and held it by the end and brought it up to beside her ear. Naruto raised an eyebrow in confusion. She suddenly whipped her arm like she was throwing a baseball and all the eggs left the carton and were flying through the air. They hit the house opposite to Naruto's with force. Naruto stood there in shock. Suddenly a fat man wearing a dirty beater shirt came outside with a baseball bat.

"You damn kids what the fuck do you think your doing!!!" he yelled.

The girl whipped her head towards Naruto "Run!" she yelled with a big smile on her face.

Naruto and the girl started sprinting down the street and the fat man chased after them. Of course the man was no match for the two teens and soon gave up.

The girl and Naruto stopped at the end of the street, panting.

"What the hell was that all about!" Naruto screamed at her.

"Wasn't that fun?" she asked.

Naruto stood there thinking then cracked a smile. "I guess it was a pretty good thrill. By the way I'm Naruto Uzumaki and thanks for throwing away my breakfast."

The girl laughed. "Sorry bout that.....oh ya and I'm Sakura Haruno and I'm your new neighbour!" She exclaimed.

Naruto was overjoyed. He felt like the luckiest guy in the world to have such a beutiful girl live next to him. It was dark by now and they had made it back to their houses.

"So are you attending Konoha Academy too?" Naruto asked her.

"Ya I'm starting there Monday, Do you wanna walk to school together?" Sakura asked him.

"Sure I'll see you here at seven then." Answered Naruto.

"Ok then, Bye Naruto," she said as she headed for her door.

Naruto was about to walk back to his house, but he couldn't help but steal a glance at Sakura's but.

"Damn..." and walked past the fence.


	2. School Time!

Here's chapter 2 guys. if you don't like language up to the f word i suggest not reading.

As ive said this is going to be a very long story like im talkin like 20,00 words and up so ya

One last thing before I start the show- i know it sucks but updates will be fairly slow because im suffering from chronic writer's block but once i get into the main groove of the story you can probably expect faster updates.

as always enjoy and don't forget to review and give me your ideas.

Yours truly

Naruto004

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**Monday, September 26**

Naruto beat his alarm clock to the buzz. He made sure to wake up extra early because today was a special day. No he didn't have a test or anything, this was more important. He was going to be walking to school with Sakura this morning, The girl who moved in beside him. When he first met her, it was love at first sight.

Naruto never really had a goal in life, he just lived day to day. But now that was different. He was inspired by a dream he had last night. He was walking along a beach with Sakura holding hands, her soft, pink hair glistened in the light of the sunset like it had the first time they met. They dipped their feet in the water and looked into each others eyes and Sakura softly said 'I love you Naruto' they then shared a passionate kiss that felt like eternity.

After Naruto experienced that he didn't want it any other way. So now he had only one aim in life.

He wanted to make Sakura Haruno love him.

It wouldn't be easy, oh no. A girl as perfect as Sakura would have guys all over her. He was fairly good looking but their were definately alot of guys way better than him out there. He was the underdog in this battle but he was going to make sure with all his heart that he would be the one Sakura fell for.

So he started off at square one- getting to know her. Which is why he had to make sure he would be walking to school with her.

He was going to have eggs for breakfast but some body- not mentioning any names- used them all. So he decided on toast. He then dressed himself in dark jeans, sneakers, and a blue t-shirt with a yellow lighting bolt in the middle. Sakura was a special girl so he decided that he would put on some of his addidas cologne on, which smelled fantastick.

He grabbed his backpack and headed out the door at exactly 7:00. Once he was around the corner he saw Sakura who looked stunning in a yellow long sleave shirt with a pink t-shirt over it, she also wore light blue jeans.

"Hey Sakura!" Naruto exclaimed.

"Hi Naruto, are you ready to go?" She replied.

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**Walking with Naruto and Sakura**

"So why did you move to Konoha?" Naruto asked.

"My dad works for a big coffee store chain and they wanted him to be the manager of a new store they're opening up here so we had to move," Sakura replied. "What about you're dad what does he do?"

Naruto stopped walking and Sakura went on a step or two before noticing that he had stopped. she turned around to find a Naruto with his head bowed.

"Naruto?" Sakura said in a concerned voice.

"My dad died in the army trying to protect this village..." said Naruto.

"Oh I'm so sorry Naruto.....well at least you've got you're mom right?" She said.

Naruto turned his head to the side. "She's dead too...."

"Oh no that's terrible!" Sakura went up and hugged Naruto.

His face turned beat red and he totally forgot what he was thinking about. Her embrace felt just like his dream. Then he started hearing these weird noises. He looked down and saw that Sakura was sniffing him all around.

"Uhh....Sakura?" He began.

"You smell really good!" She told him. "Ok let's go."

Naruto just stared at her ".........Kay."

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**At School:**

Naruto and Sakura walked through the front gate together and sat on a bench in the courtyard. Naruto helped Sakura figure out what her classes were and where she would have to go to get to them. Sakura had english, home economics, science, and art. Naruto had science and art with her. Suddenly 11:30-2:10 just became his favorite time of the day. So they said their goodbyes and went for their seperate classes.

Sakura's English teacher was Gai sensei. She soon found out that because of his jumpsuit tights the kids had nicknamed him Gay sensei.

Around the middle of class Gai sensai was called down to the office because he was needed to supervise a troublemaker who was forced to run laps around the track.

"Alright class I'll be back in a little while. Just talk amongst you're selves until then," Gai told them.

As soon as he shut the door behind him the class was filled with conversations. Suddenly someone tapped on Sakura's shoulder. She twisted herself around to see who it was. When she did she met face to face with a girl with brown hair that were tied in to buns and brown eyes.

"Hi," the girl said.

"Hi," Sakura replied.

"My name's Tenten, are you new here?" She asked.

"Ya I just moved to the village on Saturday," Sakura told her.

"Oh well you're going to love it here, there's lots of fun things to do and a big mall to go shopping at!" Tenten said very excitely.

"Tenten I told you to stop talking about that. You have a shopping addiction," a long, blond haired girl told Tenten who now had a twitching eye.

The blond turned to Sakura. "You must excuse her she's going through some...difficulties. My name is Ino by the way." She introduced.

"Nice to meet you,my name's Sakura Haruno," Sakura responded.

"I love your hair it's so pretty!" Ino complimented.

"Thanks I like yours to," Sakura stroked her hair. "So what is school like here?"

"It's pretty good, eventful really. There's always something going around that people are talking about. Plus, there's lots of different types of people here. There's the jocks who are always smashing each other into the walls, you shoul make sure not to get in the way," Sakura nodded. "Then there is the computer geeks, It's so funny if you throw a battery down the hall they'll race each other for it. Lastly there is the.....well...... strange ones."

Ino pointed to the back of the classroom were there was a raven haired girl with milky eyes that had somehow gotten into the fetal position on her chair and was eating glue.

"Word is she graduated here seven years ago but she still sticks around." Ino whispered. Sakura was a bit freaked out.

"Anyway we're gonna get some lunch later wanna come?" Ino asked.

"Sure I'd love to," Sakura repled.

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It was now just before science class and Naruto hadn't seen Sakura all day. He figured they would have lunch together since he was the only one she knew. But he figured he shouldn't ask where she was, after all it wasn't like they were the best of buds or anything.

Finally Sakura walked in the door laughing with Ino. She took a seat in front of him and Ino sat beside her.

"Hey Naruto!" said Sakura.

"I didn't know you two knew each other," Ino butted in.

"Ya me and Naruto are neighbours." Sakura told her.

"You better watch out Sakura or else the the stink from Naruto's house might-" Ino was cut off.

"That was never proven!" Naruto defended.

"How can you say that it was totally yours!" Ino accused.

Sakura had a confused look on her face. "What is going on?" Naruto slid down his chair.

"In the third grade Naruto left his lunch box which had yogurt, an apple and a sandwhich in it in his desk over the Christmas break and when we came back the whole classroom smelled like sweaty balls with cottage cheese on top for a week." Ino told her. Naruto bowed his head. Sakura laughed hard.

The rest of the class went by easy for Naruto except the best looking boy in the class, Sasuke, who was also Naruto's sworn enemy, kept looking at Sakura. This is what he feered the most.

When the bell rang Naruto quickly rushed Sakura out the door to try to avoid any contact with Sasuke, Unfortunately, he failed. Sasuke caught up with them in the hallway.

"Hey Sakura hold on a sec..." Sasuke pleaded. They stopped and turned towards him. Naruto was mentaly praying.

"I just wanted to say you look really pretty and i was wondering...." Sasuke put his arm around Sakura. Naruto clenched his teeth and fists. "If you wanted to come back to my place and have a little uhh......'fun'," Sasuke raised an eyebrow.

Naruto was about to elbow him when all of a sudden Sakura punched Sasuke in the face. Sasuke fell to the floor and Sakura jumped on him and started beating him mercilesly with awesome force. Naruto watched from the sidelines shocked.

When she was done he had two black eyes and blood pouring out his nose.

"What the fuck!" Sasuke groaned unable to move.

Sakura stood up straight and in a very sophisticated voice with a sort of british accent she said, "Come Naruto let us leave the scum and go to art class where we will paint merrily."

Naruto tried to mimmick the voice "Yes, let's."

They then walked off with their noses in the air. Naruto made a mental note not to EVER try that with Sakura.

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wow this came out faster than i expected. and good news! no that i'm done one of my projects ill have more time for writeing!

review feed back:

Im sorry it seemed like i was going to fast it was just that i really needed to get Sakura into the story before i lost intrest and gave up so now things will go slower.

about the spelling errors- Im sorry theyre their its just im really lazy and its just not my thing to look up how to spell the words. I don't think they're that bad , you can usually tell what word it is. and id not look on the bright side- at least its not one of those storys were it was written by someone who has english as a BAD second languge. those are just awful.....

And a question for all!!!!!!!

Should i start includeing some of the japenese wording here and there like -chan -kun arigato, etc etc?

tell me in the reviews- they're what keep me writen


	3. Movie Night!

Hey guys its the third Chapter and i have no idea what its gunna be about to be honest im just makin it up as i go along so don't be suprised if it is wierd at some parts, that and i'm really tired.

so im gunna be (so far...) sticken with the english terms just because i havint gotton enough feedback yet

Review feed back:

i didn't even thin about the but/butt thing!

for for your feedback and i used the sensei thing solely because i was going to use like but that felt so weird and .....un-narutoly that i didn't bother.

Naruto004

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**Saturday, October 1.**

"Ahhhhhhhhhh......" Naruto let out a long yawn. He had just woken up to a sun filled room around 10:00. Luckily last night he remembered to turn off his alarm clock.

He slowly got out of bed slugishly, missing it's warmth. After all it was beginning to turn into Autumn. When he finnaly got up he didn't even bother putting clothes on, he just went down stairs in his plad boxers knowing his brother wouldn't care. So he went down the hall, down the stairs and rounded the couch.

Hey Naruto," Sakura greeted.

"AHHHHHH!!!" Naruto jumped into the air flailing and landed on his butt. "Sakura what the fuck are you doing in my house!"

Sakura was eating a bag of BBQ chips on Naruto's couch and watching cartoons. "Nice boxers I think I saw them in a store once..." Sakura went back to eating her chips. Around this time Sanu came into the room.

"Sanu what the hell is she doing here?" Naruto said while trying to cover himself with a seat cushion.

Sanu replied, "Ya she was here when I woke up too, apparently her tv is broken and she told me you knew her so I let her stay." Sanu started whistleing and walked back into the kitchen.

"Don't worry Naruto, this isn't the first time I've seen you in your boxers," said Sakura.

"WHAT!"

"Oh come on Naruto your room is right across from mine and you don't have any blinds, you really think I don't see you in there?" Sakura asked.

"Oh....uhh.......ya.......right........" Naruto trailed off as he snuck upstairs still behind the cushion.

He quickly got dressed and ran downstairs but when he got there Sakura was already gone so he went back upstairs.

"Cool sweater Naruto!" Sakura yelled from across the gap of their houses.

Naruto slowly sidesteped out of view.

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**Wednesday, October 5.**

Naruto and Sakura were walking home from school along the main road where all the shops were. They were just walking peacefully when all of a sudden....

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!" Sakura screamed.

Naruto was franticly looking around trying to figure out what the problem was.

"Oh my god it's _Anchorman _That is the funniest movie EVER!" Sakura was looking into a video rental shop.

"If I rent it and we watch it will you stop screaming!" Naruto yelled, covering his ears.

Sakura immedietly stopped and gleamed, "Okay!

So Naruto went in and bought the tape. " Okay so come to my house on Friday around 8:00 PM and we'll watch it."

Sakura nodded.

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**Friday, October 7**

Naruto had just finished setting up the entertainment room. It was the extra room that they used to put the things that they did for fun in there. That was why there was a pool table to the side, a computer in the corner, a dart board, and a big wall mounted tv in the front of the room.

Ding-Dong

"Oh, that would be Sakura now," he said to himself. He had to buy Sanu a ticket to the movie theatre to make sure that he wouldn't be bothering them.

Naruto ran downstairs and opened the door for Sakura. She was wearing jeans and a tight sweater because of the cold night. She had also brought with her an unpopped bag of popcorn. She held it up so Naruto could see it.

"Can I use the microwave?" she asked.

"Of course," Naruto led her to the kitchen. Sakura threw in the popcorn bag and set it for three minutes.

Naruto was leaning against the counter. He noticed that Sakura was very jittery.

"Uhh...Sakura are you okay?" Naruto asked her.

"Ya I'm just really excited. I go crazy everytime I see that movie." Sakura told him. Naruto just happened to have the movie behind his back.

"You mean......This!" Naruto showed it to her.

"AAAAAAAAAH!" Sakura screamed. Naruto put it behind his back again and Sakura went back to a blank expression. Naruto did it again.

"AAAAAAAAAH!"

This time Naruto did it three fast times.

"AAAH!.....AAAH!.....AAAH!"

Naruto slowly brought it out from behind his back then back behind him.

"aaaaaaaaAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHhhhhhhhh"

"Beep beep beep," went the microwave.

Naruto emptied the bag into a large bowl. Looks like his game was over. He took Sakura upstairs to the entertainment room where in the middle he laid out two XXL beanbag chairs. Sakura, seeing these, did a running cannon into one. Once she landed the sides caved in and engulfed her head. Naruto waited a moment in silence until she poked her head out.

"Sweet," she said.

Once they managed to get comfortable they turned on the movie. They laughed about every 15 seconds.

"Popcorn," Naruto stated and held open his mouth.

Sakura, holding the bowl, threw a peice in. Naruto opened again and Sakura threw another in. He opened again so Sakura took a fistful and threw it at his face. Some landed in his mouth but most landed all over him.

"Hey!" Naruto said, annoyed. Naruto took a handful and threw it at her. Which she returned in the same fashion, except she dumped the bowl on his head.

"Ohh that is it.........Popcorn fight!" Naruto proclaimed.

Naruto hid behind his chair and Sakura ran behind the pool table. Sakura had the advantage because she had the bowl and Naruto was out of ammo. Naruto saw a pile of popcorn near him so he ran for it. But Sakura caught him and threw a whole bunch of unpopped kernals at him that actually hurt.

"Ow, ow, ow ok I give I give." Naruto declared.

"Haha! I am the champion!" Sakura exclaimed.

By this time the movie was over and Sakura was leaving. Naruto walked her to the door.

"You know, I had alot of fun tonight. We should do this every Friday. It'll be our.....movie night!" Sakura told him.

"I'd like that," Naruto said.

Sakura walked about halfway down the lane and then turned to see Naruto.

"I'm really glad we're becomeing such good friends Naruto," Sakura said softly.

"Me too," Naruto replied.

Naruto shut the door. Although what Sakura just said random, he liked it alot.

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alright i'm done the chapter! i personally thought this chapter was the funniest and did anyone notice how often i used AAAAAAHHHH!!!!


	4. new way of thinking

enjoy this Halloween oriented chapter. it's kinda Naruto centric.

Naruto004

Note: about the first paragraph- I do not support or glamorize under age drinking and naruto doesn't drink but we all know pretty much every teenager trys alcohol at least once.

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_You would be suprised what you find when you hear yourself think_

Naruto stared at his reflection in his hot chocolate. The rich steam comming off it tickled his nose. He took a sip then let out a sigh. He was rather lonely. Reaching into the box beside him, he pulled out a mini box of smarties. He opened it up, put it to his mouth and tilted his head back letting the smarties enter his mouth like a tequila shooter. He had tried it once at a friends house but then puked it back up, He leared it was an aquired taste. Sanu was at a friend's house. He wondered if he was doing that right now.

Naruto rubbed his eyes. He hadn't gotten much sleep the past few nights, and it wasn't like he didn't try to get to sleep, he just couldn't.

Sakura was on vacation so she wasn't around either. All and all it was a pretty dull place.

Ding-dong.

Naruto pushed himself up and out of the lawn chair he had placed in his house and with a turn of the doorknob opened the front door.

"Trick or treat!" Three kids sang. Naruto forced a smile and put some candy in their bags.

"Thanks mister," one said, the other two nodded and left.

Naruto stopped likeing halloween ever since he stopped trick or treating three years ago. Since his mom never took him, one of her close friends would take the boys out trick or treating. But when they got older she stopped.

He took another sip of hot chocolate.

Naruto didn't know why he was feeling this way . Nothing had happened to him recently, nothing was differen't. It was just another ordinary day. Yep nothing had changed at all, everything was exactly the same. He had done the same thing today as he did yesterday, and the day before that, and the day before that, and before that, and that, and that, and.....that. Naruto sighed. He was caught in a rut.....He was so bored of just doing the same thing everyday. He would wake up every morning, eat breakfest, get dressed, go to school, come home, watch tv, eat dinner, then go to bed. Repeat....He felt that way alot of times before. It was usually when no one was around and it was quiet but he knew how to fix it.

He needed some excitement in his life! He need things to be going on! Naruto turned up the radio he was listening to full blast and started dancing.

He danced and danced and danced but the feeling didn't go away. Funny, that sort of thing usually worked. There was only one solution. He needed more. Naruto went and turned on every light in his entire house, then went to turn on the tv really loud. There were tons of things going on but he still had the weird feeling inside, in fact it was worse now. It was becomeing clear that he needed more things happening. So he went and turned on every other electronic in the house. It was very loud and bright.

Naruto felt sick to his stomach, dizzy and was stumbleing around aimlessly. There were to many things happening at once. He couldn't focuse.

To the trick or treaters outside, Naruto's house looked like a glowing, booming jack o' lantern. They decided it was best they not go up to his house. Inside there was a fury of activity. Lights and noise were everywhere. Naruto was disoriented and then saw a bright white light. All of a sudden it was pitch black and Naruto fell down and hit the floor. It also was quiet, really quiet, dead quiet....

Naruto, who had his eyes closed the whole time, opened them. He didn't see much the only light there was was the very dim moonlight. He was flat on his back, his arms streched across the wood floor. Naruto just layed there a moment to wrap his head around what had just happened. Once he realized what happened he tried to get up but couldn't. He was sure he hadn't broken anything and nothing was on top of him. So why couldn't he get up? What was weirdest was that it wasn't that he had enough power to get up, in fact he hadn't moved a muscle. It was that he couldn't tell his body to make the movements to get up. Like all his nerves were severed. For once, Naruto was relaxed. Naruto was never relaxed. Even as he was falling asleep he was always tenced just a little. But right now, he _was_ relaxed. It felt peaceful and calm.

Naruto thought that obviously with all the electronics running the house's circuits were broken. That would explain why the power was out and it was black. And since the power was out not even the furnace was on so that would explain why it was extremely quiet. This was weird to Naruto. He had actually thought about something. Normally if the power went out he would have jumped out and would have asked (no one) why it was so dark. What had happened? What was going on? What was he gonna do? But no. Not this time. He actually calmed down and thought about what had happened and figured it out. This was much different than his regular mind set.

Suddenly a thought popped into his head. It was just randomely there. It wasn't about anything significant. It was just about the price of grapes he had seen at the grocery store. Suddenly another came into his head, this one about the color of the fence down the road. Another came, about an ant walking down the-. Before he could finish the thought another came into his head. Then another, and another, and another. They were coming to him like popcorn popping the rate grew rappidly until it was out of control, he couldn't think straight. He shook his head trying to get it to stop. It didn't. They were still bombarding his brain. He had a peircing pain run constantly through his head. He was in excruciating pain. He screamed at the top of his lungs from the pain.

Suddenly the thoughts went away and only one remained. He was totally focused on the one thought. Which turned out to be what was happening at that very moment. He couldn't think about anything else, he tried.

He blinked, and noticed that he could see and feel himself blink. He felt every muscle and nerve involved in the operation with incredible detail, like time had slowed itself so he could feel it. He then twitched and he felt the entire ripple of nerves that were sent from his brain to his leg. He exhaled and could feel his body deflate. And then, it was over.

A new thought had shown itself. This one had Sakura in it. He thought about how maybe she liked him, His brain analyzed every memory of her with him for any sign of affection with superior power. He didn't even know he could do this. He didn't know he could do that kind of thing with his brain. Unforunately, he found nothing more than playful affection, at least for now. Then as quickly as it came the thought disapeared, and it was no longer on his mind, but then the next thought appeared.

It brought Naruto back to his childhood. The experience felt like it pulled him into an alternite reality. He saw himself and Sanu on Halloween night.

They were with their mom's friend and out trick or treating. This was the exact thought that had appeared earlier that night, but Naruto had shunned it out of his head. Now it had appeared again, but this time he was completely devoted to the experience he was having. The younger Naruto looked so happy. Everytime a peice of candy was put into his bag he beamed. Naruto wished he could go back to those carefree days of childhood. The thought vanished and was replaced by a new one.

Naruto went through many thoughts that night, some he had not addressed for years. Some were important and some were just random thoughts that had been left unattended. Then the final thought appeared. It left him in shock. He had put it aside and shuned it for as long as he could remember.

His parents. He had always thought it would make him appear weak if was always crying over them so he never shed a tear for them. He thought about how his life was different without them. How he never had a father to teach him about the world and to be proud of him when he accomplished something. How he never had a mother who would kiss his knee when he fell and comfort him during a thunderstorm. And how no matter what happened he would never have parents who would always love him.

Naruto's mouth began to quiver and his eyes began to sting so he tightly shut them. When he opened them again there was a stream of tears leeking from his eyes. He began to lightly sob trying to keep it in. But soon he let it all loose and he heavely sobbed and his tears showed no sign of stopping. It felt good to let go of his bottled up emotions, he felt relieved.

He cried and cried and cried until he simply did not have anymore tears left to cry. After he finished sobbing he was completely relaxed. He felt free of his emotional chain. Now that the experience was over he felt completely changed. So, he unknowingly grew a smile and fell asleep instantly with the smile still on his face.

When he woke up the next morning he felt completely rested. He was carefree and happy. He did not know exactly what had happened the night before. But he didn't need to know. What ever it was, it was the key to his new way of thinking, and hopefully, that kind of thinking would bring him everything he ever wanted.

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sorry it's so short, i felt it was pretty deep though, don't know where it came from....

anyway think what you wanna think of this chapter

i'll be getting back to the romance next chapter.


	5. Oh No!

Hey guys whats up with the no responses. reviews and the like are what keep me writeing so fuel the fire.

anyway here it is for your veiwing pleasure.

ps. i don't know if those things actually work or not. you'll find out what i mean.

Happy Holidays, Naruto004

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**Tuesday, November 13**

Naruto was sleeping happily in his sun filled room. It was warm and quite in his house. It was 9:30 in the morning and Naruto should have been at school but it was blocked by a huge pile of snow that had sliddin off the roof and it wouldn't be cleared until later that day so they had the morning off. It was the perfect time to sleep in. Naruto was toasty warm under his covers and was dreaming happy thoughts.

"Hello you must be the poofy rabbit?" A voice said to Naruto.

"Oh yes your the woman I talked to about the chestnuts." Naruto replied in his sleep.

"Uhh ya that's me, anyway there's a price for the brain bannana," it replied.

"Of course what do I owe to fix my boxer mistakes of Camelot," Naruto said back still in his sleep.

".....Well you have to tell me a secret in order for a ride," it told him.

"A garden salad?"

"No a secret," it corrected.

"A hamster wing, are you coocoo? Those are only found in the forest of showers!"

"No a secret!"

"A secret?"

"Yes a secret."

"Oh why didn't you hear so?"

"........So what's the secret?"

"The secret......hmm......that's donkeytastic, the secret is........."

"What's the secret Naruto?"

"There...is...is....is....this p-person......"

"And?"

"It's a person."

"Who is this person Naruto?"

"Her name is .......S.....something.

"Is the name Sakura?"

"You know her?"

"Yes I do, what do you know about her?"

"I know something about her that no one else knows."

"What, what, what?"

"She.......has....."

"Has, has, has!!?"

"TWO arms!"

"That's so stupid!!!!!" It yelled.

Naruto shot up in his bed frantically looking around. He saw nothing. The room was empty.

"Oh shit." A quite voice was heard from his window sill.

Naruto looked to find a tin can. He shifted in bed to see out his window. The tin can had some fishing line attached to it and he followed it to another can that was on Sakura's window sill. She was smiling in an "I'm busted" way and waving.

She put her mouth to the can. "Hi Naruto...."

Naruto heard it come out in his can. He then looked up to Sakura who still had on a guilty look on her face.

"Sakura....what are you doing?" He asked but didn't really want to know simply because he was afraid of the answer.

"It's a tin can phone so that we can talk to each other while still being in our rooms...." She tried to sell.

"So you set up a tin can phone so you can spy on me and listen to me talk in my sleep?" He asked.

"Yep."

"Don't you think that knda screams creapy?"

"I suppose but now we can always be together."

Naruto liked that idea very much. Still, if he was caught talking about Sakura in his dreams again and he spilled the beans he would be screwed over.

"Ok...I'm just going to go ahead and take this down...." Naruto hit the can and expected it to plummet to the ground below him, but instead it just got knocked up a bit then went back to it's former position. He looked to Sakura for the reason.

She was laughing lowly. "Uhh, ya I sorta......sautered the can to your window sill...." she said pushing her two index fingers together.

Naruto squeezed his eyes shut. "And how exactly did you manage to do that."

"Well let's just say....I have a tall ladder, you leave your window unlocked, I have alot of time on my hands, and your a heavy sleeper...." she replied.

Naruto blushed. He liked a girl who was capable of a little breaking and entering. "Ok then i'll just cut the string."

"Sorry Naruto but that's steel fishing line. Can't be cut." Sakura told him.

Naruto stared blankly at her. "Ok i've had my fill of crazyness for the morning. I'm going to get dressed."

"Oh if you plan on wearing jeans today I recommend gloves and a heavy stick before opening the drawer." Sakura yelled

______________________________________________________________________

**At School**

Naruto and Sakura where told to paint self portraits in art class, which they were currently working on. Their isles were opposite each other.

"So Naruto do you actually like this class?" Sakura asked him.

"Pff, no, I only took this class because drama class is embaressing and I can't play a musical instrument to save my life, so the only thing left was this course." Naruto stated. "But it's still really boring."

"Well how about we make it less boring?" Sakura asked him.

"How?" Naruto asked.

"Why don't we play a game?"

"I don't think the teacher will quite apprechiate a soccerball flying accross the room Sakura," Naruto replied.

Sakura rolled her eyes. "I was thinking of something more along the lines of......Would you Rather?

"Would you Rather? What kind of game is that," he wondered.

"Well we take turns asking the other person what they would rather do. Such as.....Would you rather be eaten by a monkey or a shark," Sakura explained.

"Ok sounds fun, you go first." Naruto told her. He figured this would be a good chance to get to know Sakura better, so he couldn't just pass up the oppurtunity.

Sakura tilted her head as she thought of a question. "Alright would you rather bite the head off of a chicken or a guinea pig?"

Naruto laughed.

"I told you this game was fun!" Sakura said.

"Uhhh.....I guess the guinea pig because chickens have those weird red floppy things on their head and it would be so gross to eat one of those.

They both shared a laugh.

"So Sakura would you rather be forever bald or lose a finger?" Naruto asked her.

"Ooh that's a tough one......I'd rather lose a finger because you can always make another out of plastercine."

They laughed together again. They kept asking each other weird and stupid questions for about half an hour until they ran out of ideas.

"Well i'm almost finished, what about you Naruto?" Sakura wondered.

Naruto's eyes shifted side to side. "U-uhh y-ya... i'm i'm i'm just finishing up now...heh," Naruto stuttered as he slowly exchanged his canvas full of tic-tac-toe games with a blank one. He quickly got to work on the best painting he would ever do, he was splashing paint all over his smock and the ground in his haste. Sakura watched curiously as the tongue showing boy painted up a storm.

"Uhh, Naruto are you ok?" She asked.

"Ya, ya, ya," Naruto said quickly. "Aaaaaaannnnndddddddd..............DONE!" He exclaimed.

Sakura gave him a weird look then shrugged. She picked up her canvas and presented it to Naruto. It was a detailed picture of Sakura sitting on a stone bench, she looked like you could reach out and grab her. All in all it was breath taking. Naruto was in shock. Sakura asked to see Naruto's painting but he simply said that it wasn't quite as good as hers. But Sakura wasn't taking no for an answer. Naruto sighed and slowly turned his isle to face Sakura. She giggled. Not quite as good was a huge overstatement, Naruto's picture was a stickman with spiky yellow hair next to a 2-D house, tree and sun.

"Oh my," Sakura giggled.

"Ya, ya, ya we all know I suck," Naruto sighed.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Naruto and Sakura where walking home from school along a snowy pathway when all of a sudden it started to lightly snow. The two stopped in their tracks to look up at the grey sky that was dropping weightless crystals. Sakura stuck out her tounge and skillfully caught a snowflake that melted instantly.

"Mmmhh," she purred.

"I think i'll give it a try," Naruto laughed

Naruto ran around trying to stick a snowflake to his tongue but to no avail. Sakura picked up some snow in her gloves.

"Here let me help you with that!" She yelled.

Naruto turned around and was hit in the face with a snowball. "Hey!" He yelled as he wiped snow off his face. Sakura threw another snowball that hit Naruto in the stomach.

"Come on fight back you wimp!" Sakura joked playfully.

"No way! I don't hit girls," Naruto told her.

"Come oooon," she taunted and threw another snowball.

"No!" He yelled.

"Well then I guess i'll just have to keep pummeling you then." She stated and threw a solid snowball right for Naruto's head.

Naruto caught it right before it hit him and threw it back at Sakura with amazing speed. Sakura got hit in the chest then fell on her back.

"Oh man Sakura i'm so sorry" Naruto apologized.

"Don't be sorry doofus!" Sakura said as she threw more snow at Naruto.

Naruto and Sakura had a long and hard snowball fight that went on until they were both exhausted and collapsed in the snow.

"Man that was alot of fun. I'm so happy!" Sakura exclaimed.

"Me too Sakura," Naruto agreed, he was thinking about just how much he loved to see this girl happy.

"Oh Naruto I have to tell you something, I just can't keep it in anymore, I'm to exited!" Sakura said.

Naruto upon hearing this was all ears. This was sounding like she was going to maybe, just maybe reveil that she secretly loved him! That would make him the happiest person on earth. His heart was burning with anticipation. Sakura's mouth opened, he desperatly wanted to hear what she would say next!

"I have a boyfriend."

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Dum Dum Dum Dummmmmmm

Ultimate cliff hanger!!!!!!!!!!

This will be the main problem of the story!

Sorry for the really long wait. just wasn't in the writing mood i guess....


	6. Heartbreak

Sorry for the cliff hanger guys (epic wasn't it?) I was just angry cause the new manga chapter of Naruto was late (430) and it was at a major cliff hanger. took it out on you guys

hopefully this one will be alot longer than the others.

Naruto004

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The words cut through him like a knife. No, scratch that. It wasn't a clean cut, it _tore_ him, left shards of a stopped heart on the floor of his stomach. He wore a small shocked face to go along with that. He wasn't breathing, still left to bask in what she had just told him. What seemed like just ordinary happy news to her was the worst thing imaginable for him. If only she knew what she had just done to him.

Naruto began to breath again and the world began to come into focus. Sakura was still smileing at him, as far as she knew she had done nothing wrong. Not that she had, having a boyfriend was normal, but for some people that didn't make them to cheery. Naruto looked around.

Sakura's face began to show worry. "Naruto? Are you ok?" She asked.

Naruto's face darkened and he lowered his head. He stood up and didn't even wipe the melting snow off of him.

"Naruto?" Sakura asked again, still sitting.

"I...I gotta go....do...homework...." Naruto lied lamely and immediately ran off at full speed, never once showing his face, or the tears that were begining to form in his eyes.

Sakura watched as Naruto ran off into the darkening sky. Funny, Naruto had told her he didn't have any homework.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Naruto had been sprinting for a good 5 minutes. Not caring about the incredible burning in his legs. He was concentrating on fighting back the tears.

How? How was his first question. How could this be? How come things had to turn out like this? Had the world truely hated him this much that it had to take away the most important thing in his life? Why? Why did he have to hurt so much? He didn't deserve this. Was this the price he had to pay because he loved someone this much, or maybe because he was thinking of her like an object he was trying to obtain? Maybe this was the way of bieng told that you didn't deserve to be loved. That he wasn't meant to be cared for, and if he tried, that it would end in heartbreak and turmoil. Maybe in this cruel reality this was an apprechiated message.

When he finally ran out of steam he noticed he had come to the park and collapsed on a bench. with his legs drooping over the side he looked up to the stars in the night sky. Naruto wasn't really looking for answers to his questions. He was trying to peice his heart back together. He ran over the horrible thought in his head.

_Sakura loves someone._

He gasped for air and let the slow tears trickle down his cheeks. It felt good to cry. He didn't like to cry but it still felt good to let them go. Each tear was a tiny bit of the pain bieng washed away, and right now, he had alot of pain to wash away. Or, maybe the pain would never go away, that's what it was looking like right now.

Love. Love was a beutiful, fragile thing. It could make your like absolutely complete, or complete hell. Currently Naruto was experienceing the second one. Naruto wasn't her number one person. He wouldn't be the one to laugh with her, to hold her, or to be the shoulder to cry on. He would never be the person to fill the spot in her heart, but she would always be the one in his. An unreturned love, he was sure, was the most painful thing he had ever felt.

Naruto wasn't angry or sad. Nothing had gone wrong to make him those things. He was depressed. It was the sheer proof that she didn't love him that made him that way. He had the right to be depressed, the girl he loved was someone elses. Everyday he would have to deal with the pain of watching them go about there lives together. Doing things like a couple, hugging, kissing. He would feel the sharp pain in his heart that was a constant right now each time he heard her say "I love you" to him.

That's when it hit him, he didn't even know who this person was! He could be some secret 30 year old drug addict who preys on inoccent little girls for his own sick and twisted pleasures. Maybe he was dangerous? Maybe he was stalking Sakura? Or maybe he tricked her with some dark magic into going out with him!

Naruto sighed.

Or maybe he was just a really good guy.... Who Sakura thought was special. But what did he have that Naruto didn't? Like maybe really good looks, or a cool car? Although he doubted Sakura would fall for such shallow things.

It was now around 8:00 and it would be pitch black out if not for the street lights. Naruto got off the bench and headed home. As he walked home he heard his stomach growl, and right on cue, he saw that the Ichiraku Ramen restraunt's light was still on. His stomach growled again as a way of saying "go in". Naruto ducked under the draipes and walked into the wonderful smelling shop. Teuchi was moving pots around and didn't see Naruto.

"Sorry buddy but I'm closing up so you'll have t- Oh Naruto!" Teuchi finally recognized. "Come in, come in I'll whip you up a bowl of miso pork!

"Thanks old man." Naruto said.

The elderly owner could already tell there was something wrong just by his voice. In a flash he presented a bowl in front of Naruto, now he knew something was up because normally Naruto devoured it the second it was placed, but tonight he was just slowly eating and stirring with his chopsticks. He watched him slowly slurp up some noodles and then lifelessly stirred again.

"Hey kid what's wrong?" Teuchi asked with concern.

Naruto didn't move for a moment. "......Teuchi?" He began.

"Ya?"

Naruto hesitated before speaking."What do you know about....uh...women? Naruto asked.

Teuchi was a bit suprised at first, then he grew a smile and chuckled a little. "Ahh so it's girl trouble that's got you down huh?" he jeered.

Naruto simply nodded.

"So what's happenin' that's got you like this?" Teuchi asked.

Naruto set down his chopsticks on the bar and thought. "Well see...there's this girl...that I really really like."

"I figured as much," Teuchi replied.

"And she just told me she...went out and got....." Naruto couldn't finish.

"A boyfriend huh?" Teuchi finished for him.

Naruto bowed his head more. "...Ya..."

"Well Naruto...I once had a wife. And believe it or not we used to be around your age. And when I was just little younger then you were, I had a huge crush on that girl. I thought she was absolutely beutiful! But she hardly knew my name...And to top it off _she_ had a crush on one of the popular boys in school, but he didn't think she was special. So one day I put all my cooking abilities together and made her a wonderful, tasty cake. The next day at school I gave her the cake and she was so happy and grateful that I thought of her.

"So is that how you got her to like you?" Naruto asked.

"Not exactly....Just before she was about to take a bite, the boy she liked pushed her, took the cake I made and started eating it. He said that she didn't deserve to eat something so good so he put it on the floor and stomped on it," Teuchi finished.

"So what did you do?" Naruto wondered.

"I looked him straight in the eye and I," Teuchi brought his arm to his side. "Punched him in the head!" Teuchi reinacted the punch.

Naruto raised both his eyebrows.

Teuchi finished the story, "Later when he woke up I got the snot kicked out of me. But then the girl came up to me with some bandages and said that she was so impressed that I would do that just for her even though I would get beat up and that it really showed that I cared."

"My point is Naruto that if you show this girl that you really care, eventually she'll come around. Don't sweat it."

For the first time that night Naruto smiled a little. He then reached for his wallet to pay for his ramen but was stopped by Teuchi.

"This one's on the house kid, for listening to an old fart's stories."

Naruto thanked the man and went home where he proceded to have a nightmare filled sleep despite the kind owner's words.

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hey guys hope you liked it i think it was fairly long anyway please review more thnx!!!!


	7. Good guy

Hey guys! pretty depressing chapter huh? It can hit pretty close to home for anyone who has ever had that person love someone else.....cough cough.

but life goes on and so does this story so heres another chapter!

Naruto004

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**Wednesday, November 14.**

Naruto's eyes slowly opened. His orbs had a web of red across them. He tilted his head to look at his clock.

_8:33._ It read.

So he would miss first period today- so what? He didn't feel like going to school at all so they were lucky he was still planing an going. Naruto could feel that he was warm but not soft. He realized that he must have slept in his clothes and on top of his half made bed. His fingers ran through his messy golden locks of hair and remembered why he was feeling so crappy. He let out a very low groan. Naruto slowly sat up in his bed using as little energy as possible. Rubbing his eyes to make the stinging go away, he ran through the various nightmares he had in his head.

He got up and looked in the mirror. His hair was messy and greasy, he had dark bags under his eyes, pale skin, and his clothes were ruffled and wrinkly.

"Hey there beautiful..." He said to himself in a groggy voice.

Normally if Naruto looked like that he would have took a shower, slapped himself a few times and put on new clothing. Instead he left his room exactly the same as when he woke up.

He went downstairs and grabbed a muffin from the cupboard. He proceeded to tear off the wrapper like some sort of lazy animal. After, he slowly crammed the whole thing in his mouth, but it wouldn't fit so he twisted it in and left an awful crumby mess all over the floor.

Naruto then grabbed his coat and hat and walked out the door, leaving the main one wide open. He walked down the street, his face full of muffin and the cold air blowing inside his unzipped jacket, and soon found himself in front of his high school. This was it. This was where he was going to have see Sakura and....him.....together. Naruto swallowed hard, then took the steps towards the door. The warm and cheery school was much better than the cold outside, but he really didn't feel that warm and cheeriness this morning.

Naruto looked at the clock on the side of the wall. It would be about 5 minutes yet until first period ended and the halls would begin to flood with students. So he went upstairs to his locker and opened it, he put his coat inside.

Then Naruto realized that even though Sakura now had a boyfriend, he should still at least look presentable to some degree. So he fixed his hair as much as he could and straightened out his clothes, and luckily he had kept some deodorant in his locker so he wouldn't smell so bad.

Just as he finished the bell rang and the doors on both sides of the hallways flung out and people began to fill the area. His heart began to race. Any minute now he would meet Sakura's boyfriend and he would have to find a way to deal with it. Who was it going to be? He hadn't seen her flirting with anyone in any of the classes they had together. Maybe he was in one of her other classes?

Naruto nearly jumped out of his skin when there was a gentle tap on his shoulder. He could smell woman's perfume, so it had to be Sakura, she was the only girl he talked to. This was it! He would meet her boyfriend!

Naruto turned around.

Sakura was alone. He relaxed and let out an undetectable sigh of relief.

"Naruto what happened to you yesterday? You ran off so suddenly. Why?" Sakura asked.

Naruto didn't know whether to be angry or happy towards her so he simply turned even more pale, and lied. "Oh I just had some stuff to do," he said with a fake smile.

"Like homework?" She replied.

"Ya ya that was it, I had to do homework!" He stumbled.

"Oh really?" She asked again in an accusing voice.

"Y-ya..." Naruto was sweating now.

Sakura lifted up the bag she was holding. "Caaause all your books are in here," she said.

Naruto's eyes narrowed. It was his backpack! He hadn't even noticed that he left it behind when he ran off. His cover was blown.

"So what's really wrong?" She wanted to know.

He was thinking furiously. He needed a good excuse. Fast! "You really wanna know?" He stalled.

"Yes Naruto, you can tell me anything." She told him.

Maybe he should just tell her that he didn't like her having a boyfriend. That's what he was thinking of doing but... "Uhh I sorta...suddenly got diarrhea."

Sakura nearly fell over. "Ok maybe not that," she laughed. "Oh I have to go but me, you and Zikei should have lunch together," she said and ran off.

So that's what his name was, Zikei. He was Sakura's boyfriend......He had no idea who that was.

Naruto spent second period totally spaced out. He couldn't even here the teacher try to snap him out of it. She gave up after 10 minutes of failure, leaving Naruto to daydream. He wondered who this Zikei guy was. He obviously had never been in one of Naruto's classes before. Could he possibly be older? Maybe Sakura was into that sort of thing. He grew a smile on his face and the rest of the class he dreamed about Sakura being into all kinds of fetishes.

Later Naruto managed to force himself to walk into the cafeteria. He looked around and eventually spotted pink hair in the distance. He slowly walked closer. He could see that there was definitely someone behind her from his eyeshot but he couldn't tell what he looked like. Soon he was noticed by Sakura and she waved for him to come over, he did her bidding. Naruto sat down across from Sakura.

"Naruto, i'de like you to meet Zikei," Sakura presented the boy next to her.

"Nice to meet you i'm Zikei," Zikei greeted.

"I'm Naruto," Naruto waved. Zikei had chestnut brown hair a bit longer than Naruto's, He was the same height as him, and he wasn't very musculer but was very lean. He wore a band shirt and had a black leather wristband.

Zikei and Sakura were sharing a box of fries. Naruto was incredibly jealous. Sakura AND fries. What a lucky guy.

There was an awkward silence until Naruto finally asked, "So you two are....."

"Yep," Zikei answered the unfinished question and put his arm around Sakura. Naruto clenched his teeth as he thought "Stay away from her you bastard!". But on the outside he wore a smileing mask.

Unfortunately from what Naruto could tell from the lunch period, Zikei seemed like a perfectly good guy. But he still didn't know huch about him, so he went around to a few people who knew who Zikei was. He called it getting to know him but he really wanted to see if he could dig up any dirt on him. He didn't find any.

But he did gather that he was in fact the same age as them and Sakura had met him through some friends. Apparently he was the guitarist in an amatuer rock band which explaned his clothes. He also found that he liked to snowboard his favorite color was red, he loved chicken nuggets, and was the polevulter on the school track and field team.

Naruto cursed, he actually approved of the man.

I decided Ide rather make up the boyfriend character than use a real character.

I also have a favor to ask. Ive been an author for what... a year now. And I still dont know what a story alert is. Ive been getting them but I dont know what they are. Could someone tell me what they are please?

And to spottedstar2- I read manga at they usually have the new naruto right at 12:00 am on friday so its nice. Currently have 431 if u havent red.

Thanks guys.


	8. Christmas, The Locket, And a good friend

Hey guys im really angry cause I lost all my files on my computer so I had to reinstall everything! Rrgghh!!! anyway for any one who cares im writeing another story in my notebook at school its about naruto and sakura

stay in the same house(shack) together as they look for a cat on a mission.

And I was thinkin the other day- we all know that konohamaru is sarutobi's grand son right? Well if sarutobi is asuma's dad then wouldn't that make konohamaru asuma's son? Weird.

__________________________________ oOo

**Friday, December 16**

It had been more than a month now since Sakura and Zikei started going out. As far as Naruto knew they hadn't done anything "serious" yet. Thank god Sakura had told him she wanted to wait until she was married before this whole ordeal started, or else he would be pulling out his hair by now.

But things were starting to look up...sort of. It was Christmas time throughout the village of Konoha! Soft snow slowly fell from the sky nearly everyday. It was sort of sad in a weird kind of way. Naruto was watching it come down and hit his face, it would melt on contact with his warm rosy cheeks he got from the now full-in-force winter.

He was walking to school with Sakura. The overcast sky above them seemed to go on forever. Naruto looked over at Sakura with dazed eyes. She looked so innocent, a content smile on her face and small puffs escaping her mouth every time she exhaled. A brown, wool jacket surrounded her small frame and kept her warm, her pink mittens looked childish but it really suited her personality. She had nice clothes and expensive things. Naruto pulled at his black, wool coat. It was full of small holes and some of the stitching was coming undone. The two looked like an odd pair. Like beauty and the beast.

Maybe that was why Sakura went for Zekei, because he too had nice things. He was cool, the guitarist in a band, sort of like the musicians on TV that all the girls dreamed about just because they could play an instrument. What was so great about those kind of people anyway?

"Naruto?" Sakura started.

"Ya?" Naruto responded lazily.

"Christmas is coming up soon are you excited?" she asked happily.

Naruto looked up to the gray sky. This was just the change of topic he needed. "Ya I really like all the festivities." He replied.

"Ya me too....so what are you going to ask for?"

"Huh?" Naruto gave her a funny, tired look.

"You know, what are going to ask for for Christmas?" She repeated.

Naruto looked at her as if she were speaking another language. "Ask who for what now?"

It took Sakura a second to realize it, then it clicked in her head. He didn't have anyone to ask for anything. She was now flustered. "Oh sorry, I shouldn't have brought that up!"

It then came to Naruto as well. "Oh it's ok Sakura I'm okay with that sort of thing now."

They continued to walk but there was an awkward silence between them. That was until Sakura broke it.

"Umm Naruto...If you want, Zikei and I are going into town to do some Christmas shopping, You can tag along if you want."

"Oh I don't want to be a third wheel," He more wanted to be the axle that kept the two wheels apart.

"Nonsense, I insist that you come, It's going to be fuuunnn," She jeered.

"Oh alright, I have to get something for Sanu anyway." He replied.

"Alright! We're going to meet at the front gate at the end of school. Don't be late!" Sakura once again had the content smile on her face. Naruto smiled as well.

oOo

Naruto sat in class, barely able to keep his eyes open. Normally he had no problem falling asleep in class, he did it almost everyday. But right now he was trying to think, and he couldn't very well do that if he was sleeping. He was thinking about what would transpire later that evening. He liked Christmas shopping but really, he had no one to shop for. Sanu, of course, but he was more concerned about whether or not to get Sakura something. It would be kind of weird to get a girl with a boyfriend a Christmas present. And even if he did, what would he get her? It couldn't be something to lovey- dovey because he wasn't her boyfriend. But he couldn't get her something that wasn't special either or else she would think he doesn't care about her.

He then fell asleep

The teacher threw a piece of chalk at his head and he simply tried to subconsciously bat at it like a cat and a piece of string. Some people laughed at this uncontrollable gesture.

When he finally became conscious he didn't open his eyes, but he could feel someone roughly shaking his shoulder.

"Oi! Naruto get up." Sakura said sternly.

"Mffdemffamm" he mumbled something incoherent.

Sakura placed a hand on his forehead and pulled back, revealing his saggy face. "Everybody else left. I came to pick you up for art class."

"Mmhh....Did you bring any ramen?" he asked lazily, still being held up by his forehead.

"Umm...No." She was confused. "Come on let's go." She said with strain as she tried to help him up.

Naruto stumbled a bit as he got up but soon stood straight, rubbing his eyes. They walked to Naruto's pace, which happened to be slow. Sakura looked over to him and saw he was constantly creeping his eyes closed, then shooting them open, his head would rock a bit as he did this. She also noticed the bags under his eyes.

"Are you sure you want to come?" Sakura asked him.

Naruto looked over at her like a zombie. "Christmas shopping?"

"Ya."

He gave her a small, tired smile. "Of course, I do. Why do you ask?"

Sakura stopped and put her hands on her hips. "Naruto, you can barely keep your eyes open, plus you've been acting all spacey lately."

Was she implying that Naruto was cranky because he wasn't getting enough sleep? Like a five year old? It was true he wasn't getting enough sleep lately. Every time he laid down in bed and tried to go to sleep, he would be haunted by thoughts of Sakura and Zikei's relationship. And every time he did get to sleep, or when he finally got to sleep, it wasn't a very peaceful sleep. He would have nightmares about the same topic. Except, there it was even worse because he couldn't control what he thought about in the least, plus he couldn't stop until he woke up.

Also, he was 'cranky' because of the obvious fact that he was not happy at all with the current situation.

When Naruto spoke again he looked at Sakura with a caring face, as if he was the one worrying about her. "Sakura I'll be fine. I'll get some sleep in class and when I wake up I'll be fresh as a daisy!" He told her his plan.

Sakura let out a frustrated sigh, 'Naruto you just can't forfeit your studies for sleep!'

But it was to late, Naruto was already sitting at his desk, fast asleep.

oOo

The bell rang, signaling for everyone to go home. But Naruto wasn't going home, he was going into town with his best friend/love, and his worst enemy.

His plan only half worked. He was alert to an average degree and could keep his eyes open, but he still felt exhausted.

When he exited the front door he saw two people standing at the iron gates of the school entrance, a pink haired girl wearing a red hat with a puff ball on the top and a man taller than her with brown hair. Both had their small book bags on their backs just like him.

As he got closer, Sakura saw him in the corner of her eye. She ran up to him excitedly and was followed by Zikei who was simply walking.

"Are you ready to go?" Sakura asked with happiness in her eyes.

Naruto just gave her a huge smile, to try and show her he was no longer tired. Sakura smiled back at him. The blond saw that Zikei too had a content smile on his face.

"Alright then let's go!" She rejoiced. She ran ahead as the two boys walked side by side behind her.

By the time they had gotten into the shopping district of the village of Konoha, the sun was beginning to set. But it didn't make everything orange, it just got darker earlier because of the cover of clouds.

The two boys suddenly stopped because ,as well, did Sakura. She had a determined look on her face and all three looked up to the huge building in front of them. It was the village's indoor shopping mall.

"Oooohh," the boys cooed. From the darkening outside they could see the warm glow of light the varies architectural windows and skylights. It looked as if it had four levels but really it was three.

When they walked inside the warm blast of air made them feel very relaxed and they could hear Christmas carols being softly played on the radio above. There were strings of white lights hung from the ceiling and up the pillars in front of stores. Garland was wrapped along all the railings throughout the mall, and blowup figurines of Santa and snowmen were placed decoratively all over.

Sakura turned to face them with a very serious face. "All right men divide and conquer! We will meet back here at 1900 hours. Break!" She then ran off leaving the two boys in the dust.

Once she was out of sight Zikei let out a sigh.

Naruto moved his eyes to look at him. "What's wrong with you?" He said with no care in his voice.

"I have no idea what to get Sakura for Christmas..." He complained.

"Is that so?...well why don't you get her something frilly- girls like frilly......or maybe something plushed- I think Sakura is into that sorta thing." Naruto suggested.

"Ya that's a pretty good idea...I just want to give her something special you know? I love her."

"...Ya...I know..."

Naruto and Zikei then went there separate ways.

The blond boy started to focus on the task at hand. He needed to buy a present for his brother. He searched the mall floors for a good five minutes before finding a store with some jewelery and other various things that could be good present material. His brother needed a watch, badly, Naruto was surprised he hadn't been fired for being late so many times.

Inside the store was a few isles of things like stuffed animals, cards, nic-nacs, children's toys and other things. At the back was where the things like watches, rings and necklaces were, which was where Naruto was headed.

He scanned over the bins with watches in them. Many of them were out of his price range, but eventually he found one that wasn't to pricey but was still a good enough quality.

He was done his shopping, so why wasn't he moving? He was standing there at the watch bin thinking. Should he get Sakura something? Unknowingly he had been thinking about the same question his whole trip here. He knew Zikei was going to get her _something_. But he could still get her something right?

Or would it make a problem in her relationship?

He sighed as he knew he shouldn't tread on ground that wasn't his. Zikei was her boyfriend, he shouldn't interfere.

Naruto started to walk up to the the cash register. He didn't get far however. Just as he started to move, his eyes spied a shiny object on one of the jewelery tables.

It was a silver necklace with a heart pendant. In the middle was a pink jewel with a silverborder around it. He opened the pendant and inside, in small, cursive letters there was a note that read

_To My One And Only._

"Damn it..." It was perfect for her. If he was her boyfriend that is. It was the greatest gift imaginable for Sakura but it was cleary something you gave to someone who you have a mutual affection with.

He kept telling himself he shouldn't get it. Over and over again. So why was he picking it up. He thought for a while. Thought about a lot of things. He let out a defeated sigh. He knew what he had to do.

At the cash register the cashier scanned the watch and put it in a bag.

"Is that all for today sir?" She asked.

Naruto looked side to side before speaking. "Uh...And this," He placed the silver locket on the checkout counter. The girl scanned it and then looked at it for a moment.

"Is this for your girlfriend?" She asked personally.

Naruto swallowed hard. "I guess you could say that..." He took the bag and fled the store as quickly as possible.

OoO

Naruto looked at his watch at the groups meeting point.

Zikei saw this and commented, "Jeez, she told us not to be late and she ended up being the one who was late!" He chuckled.

Naruto weakly laughed, "Ya.."

There was an awkward silence between them for a while. Until Naruto broke it.

"Uhh..Zikei?...did you ever find anything for Sakura?"

Zikei sighed, "No..."

Naruto stayed silent for a moment before fishing through his bag, "Here." He said lowly.

The brunette boy looked down to find a silver locket with a heart pendant. "Uhh...thanks Naruto but I don't think it's quite my style."

"It's not for you! It's for you to give to Sakura!" Naruto claimed.

"For real? That's so awesome! It's perfect." He took the locket from Naruto's hand.

"Thank you Naruto."

"Your welcome."

There was another long silence between them.

"Your going to pay me back right?" Naruto asked.

"Of course." Zikei replied.

Naruto knew he had done a very good deed that day, he had made Zikei very happy. So why was he feeling this dark aura being emitted from the boy beside him?

OoO

Eventually they met up with the pink haired girl who was carrying at least a dozen bags. She suggested that they go to the Cafe across the road from the shopping centre, which is where they were currently.

"What can I get y'all?" The waitress asked.

"I'll have a green tea please." Sakura answered.

"What are your specials right now?" Zikei asked.

"It's festive eggnog!" The peppy waitress answered.

"Ooh that sounds good I'll have one of those." The guitarist replied.

"Great. And you sir?"

Naruto looked at her with lazy eyes and had tired speech. "Uhh...I'll just have a hot chocolate."

"Alright! I'll only be a moment guys!" The waitress left.

When she was out of earshot, Sakura was the first to speak. "Getting sleepy Naruto?" She laughed.

Naruto tried to answer with a little enthusiasm. "Ya I guess..."

The waitress was back sooner than the had expected and placed their drinks in front of them. They all drank some in silence. Naruto's warm, chocolaty drink was having the same effect on him as sleeping pills did. The salvation of the warm, yellow lights inside from the dark night outside wasn't helping either.

It was then Zikei who spoke first.

"Oh Sakura I got you something." He told her.

Naruto watched as the boy across from him began to present the locket to the girl sitting next to him. As if he was going to do that here. It was like he knew that this caused Naruto intense torture.

Sakura looked down and saw the locket. She gasped as she took it in her hands.

"How did you know?"

Zikei chuckled, "A little birdy told me." He glanced at Naruto for a moment. Sakura didn't notice.

What happened next only mildly surprised Naruto, But shocked him none the less.

He saw Sakura kiss Zikei.

It boiled his blood, but on the outside he remained normal. The urge to snap became larger and larger until he was about to burst.

Naruto stood up and grabbed his jacket. "You know I think your right about me needing more sleep Sakura I think I'm going to go," he said as he headed for the door.

"Ah, wait Naruto!" Sakura called to him. But it was to late. Naruto was already gone.

Naruto walked quickly under the streetlights, along the snowy sidewalk.

Why couldn't he just accept that this was the way things were now? He needed to learn to live with it. Yet he couldn't. Everytime he saw something like that happen he couldn't keep it bottled up. This wasn't fair. Why did it have to be this way!

Suddenly he heard is name being called from behind him. He turned around and saw Sakura run up to him panting.

"You walk to fast you know that?" She commented.

"Sakura what's wrong?"Naruto asked, ignoring her question.

"You ran off so fast I didn't even have time to give you this." Sakura then handed him a small box with orange wrapping paper.

Naruto looked at it for a moment. She actually got him a present. "Sakura w-why....you didn't have to."

"It's okay it's just a pack of gourmet ramen." She assured him.

She then wrapped her arms around Naruto and gave him a hug, "Merry Christmas Naruto."

Naruto was in shock for a moment, but then gave her a content smile, "Merry Christmas Sakura" He guessed that just because he wasn't the most important person to her, that doesn't mean he's worthless to her. He supposed that would be okay for now.

A fair way's away, Zikei watched the two hug out of the Cafe window. He showed an evil little smile. "I guess this going to be harder than I thought."

OoO

KNOW IT TOOK FOREVER! But I actually have a life outside of here so ya- anway sorry – yada yada yada

wont make any promise about the timing of the next chapter- at least this one was longer.


	9. That big thing feeling

Hey guys here's the next part, by the way the snow in this story melts in February.....dont ask me why......

Naruto004

0o0

**Saturday, February 20**

You know those kinds of days where you wake up and feel that something really big is going to happen? Well that's the kind of feeling Uzumaki Naruto had when he woke up.

He sprung out of bed and opened the blinds. It was a clear, sunny day. All the snow had melted and was replaced by part dead grass, part green grass. Normal February weather. Still feeling the adrenaline of the idea of something big happening, he quickly got dressed in a pair of cargo shorts and a long sleeve shirt. He ran downstairs and scanned the entire floor. Sanu had gone to work and he was the only soul in the whole house.

He went into the garage and pulled out a basketball. This was just what he needed to get all the energy out of him. Plus, it would be his first chance to play this year. The garage door folded upwards into the house and Naruto started to drag out the basketball net from the storage area. He set it up at the beginning of his driveway and stood in front of the net. He threw the ball to the ground to start dribbling.

It never came up. He could hear the air being released from the sphere as it deflated.

"Damn," He claimed.

Naruto heard a giggle noise from his side

He looked to Sakura's yard to find her waveing at him. He smirked at her and went into the garage to grab the air pump. After a few moments of pumping, the ball was hard with sealed air. When he exited, Sakura was standing in his yard with a book.

"Mind if I read here?" She asked.

"No go ahead." He replied

So Sakura read as Naruto practiced basketball. After a while, Naruto finally started to talk to the pink haired girl.

"So what are you reading?" He asked as he dribbled.

"Hmm? Oh, it's just a novel."

"Is it good?" Nauto asked, even though he had no interest in books.

"...It's okay I guess..." She replied after a moment.

"....that's nice." It was all he could come up with.

Naruto twirled aroud and made a disappointed face. "Shot down Uzumaki! Real smooth! Real smooth!" he thought.

Thankfully, Sakura had decided to keep the conversation alive. "You like basketball?"

"It's okay I guess" Naruto repeated Sakura. "It's good for when you have nothing better to do."

"That's nice" Sakura repeated Naruto.

The blonde stared at his basketball while the girl stared at her book. Both were thinking the exact same thing.

"....I never was really good at small talk"

They both resumed their own activities, never saying a word. Naruto was to nervous, and Sakura was concentrating on reading.

Just then a darkish form walked down the street shouting. "Hey Sakura! Naruto!"

The two turned to the origin of the sound. Sakura stood up and yelled back. "Hey Zikei! Over here!"

Naruto almost fell over. "She could have at least told me he was coming over!" he thought.

The couple ran towards each other and then did a twirling hug. Naruto grid his teeth just a little. He thought at least his own home could be his sanctuary from these two's shenanigans.

The three stood in Naruto's driveway talking.

Discussions such as "How have you been lately?" to "Has that lump gone away yet ?" arose in their conversations. But then Zikei eyed the basketball in Naruto's arm and decided to speak.

"Hey you play?" he asked.

Naruto looked down at the ball. "Oh, ya...a little."

Zikei took the ball and spun it on his finger like a bigshot. "Wanna have a shootout?"

"I'll only play if Sakura plays," Naruto smiled.

The two boys turned to Sakura, who was now the center of attention. "....of course I'll play!" she beamed.

OoO

The three teens lined up in front of the net in Naruto's driveway. Naruto was the first to shoot. It went right in. Same with Zikei's. Sakura's however, didn't.

"Don't worry Sakura I'm sure you'll get it in next time!" Naruto encouraged her.

Sakura gave him a smile. "Thanks Naruto."

But he was wrong. It didn't. Mind you neither did his. This happened again the next time, and the next time. In fact the whole time, only Zikei's balls went in.

Sakura let out a sigh. "Oh man I suck!..."

Naruto turned to face her and got a determined look on his. "That's not true Sakura! Your great at everything you do. Your just having an off day is all. Normally you'd be sinking all those shots! I believe in you, you can do it!"

Sakura looked at him in suprise, then gave him a huge smile and a hug. "Thank you Naruto"

Naruto heavily blushed. "W-well I try to be helpful..."

Zikei smirked.

After that Sakura got all of her shots in, while Naruto did not.

"See Sakura I told you you could do it! Your awesome!" He commented.

"I guess you were right." She replied.

Zikei smirked again. This time letting out a little snort that no one could hear.

"I'm really hot. How about I go fix us up some lemonade? Naruto can I use your kitchen?" Sakura asked.

"Ya sure go ahead. Thank you Sakura."

Sakura smiled and then entered the house. When she closed the door, Naruto turned to face Zikei.

"That is one nice girl you've got there man." Naruto commented.

Zikei was serious/menacing all of a sudden. "Your not very good at this are you?"

"What basketball? I don't practise very often so I guess i'm not that good." Naruto shrugged.

"No not that! I mean you don't have much experience with love do you?

Naruto's eyes narrowed. He took a step back. "Wh-what?

Zikei evilly smiled. "That's right I know."

The blonde's hands shook and he backed away more.'No, he couldn't have found out about my love for Sakura, I didn't tell anyone, not even my best friends. How the hell did he find out? Who the hell is this guy?"

"H-h-how?..." He barely asked.

Zikei snorted. "Oh come on! It's pretty obvious if you look for the signs!" He proceeded to imitate Naruto. "You can do it Sakura!" "Your the greatest." "I believe in you!" "Please you might as well get down on one knee and propose!"

Naruto looked defeated. "W-when did you find out?"

Zikei was getting closer to him, intimidating him. "When you gave me the necklace. It was perfect for her. Only someone who really cared for her could pick that one out of hundreds."

Naruto regained his stance and tried to fight back. "Well...so what if I do love Sakura! She's a good person. You and I both know that!"

The brunette snorted once again. "So what are you going to do now, huh? You plan to win her over with your looks? Please! You dress in rags, your not talented at anything and your as dumb as a mule, and Sakura will never see past that.

Naruto was angry now. "Your wrong! Sakura sees beneath the skin. She brings out the good person in everyone because that's who she is! I'm surprised she's even going out with such an asshole, that I just found out you are!

Zikei snorted _again_. " So are you going to run off to her and tell her that I'm a jerk who only wants her because she's hot! You really think she'll believe that? Hah!"

Naruro looked from side to side, unsure of what he should do.

"Face it kid it's over. I suggest you hold on to that dream of you and Sakura together, cause it's the only thing you'll ever have of her!"

Sakura opened the door and reveled a pitcher of lemonade with glasses.

"Here you are boys! Get it while it's cool!"

Zikei's attitude automatically switched back to 'mister nice guy'."Oh thank you so much Sakura." He said.

"Naruto your all sweaty! Were you practicing while I was gone?" Sakura asked after seeeing the frightened Naruto.

"U-uh y-ya that's it." He stumpled. "But I just remembered that I have to be somewhere so I have to go!"

Naruto ran down the street as fast as he could

"Naruto were are you going?" Sakura yelled for him.

"Feel free to use my yard!" was his only response before going out of sight.

Zikei sat on Naruto's front step thinking devilish thaughts. "Well I guess that takes care of him."

he the took a sip of his sweet lemonade. "Cheers Naruto."


End file.
